One in ten UK kids under the age of 10 owns an iPhone, says security company Westcoastcloud.

Five percent even have an iPad

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The security firm asked 2,000 parents with children aged 10 and under about their gadgets and found that one in ten parents thinks its ok for children as young as four to own a mobile phone. Furthermore, 17 percent of the parents polled said they had bought their child a mobile phone following much pestering.

Typically, parents said they considered that by the time a child reaches the age of 10, they were happy for them to own a smartphone. More than two thirds (68 percent) said the handset helped them keep tabs on their children's whereabouts.

Nearly nine in ten (88 percent) of parents pay for their child's mobile phone, although two thirds said the handset is on a pay-as-you-go basis rather than a monthly tariff. Three quarters claim the phone bill costs £10 per month, although five percent admit their child racks up £20 worth of calls and texts per month.

Half of parents surveyed own a smartphone, while 72 percent have their own laptop or tablet PC. Of these, 15 percent said their child regularly uses their smartphone and ten percent log on to their parent's laptop.

On average, kids spend around three hours a week online, but half of parents admit to not using parental controls on internet-connected devices in the home. Furthermore, 22 percent argue with their child about the amount of time spent online.

"It's great that youngsters are interested and engaged with the latest technology, but children owning their own phones as young as four does seem unnecessary," said Bill Strain, director of Westcoastcloud.

"Kids will always be able to gain access to their parents' phones and laptops but when primary school age children gain access to the internet on these devices, parents need to be aware. There's the potential that they could access unsuitable or potentially harmful content."

Westcoastcloud also revealed nearly ten percent of children aged ten and under have a social account, despite Facebook and MySpace stating the minimum user age is 13. A quarter of parents also admitted their child had an email account.

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Comments

Ian said: Comments,Ian,"1 in 10 children under 10 own an iphone" is Westcoastcloud's claim.
According to the 2001 census there were 6,048,767 children under 10 in England. That's 12.3% of the population. The current UK population is estimated at 63 million. So 12.3% of that is 7.75 million under 10s. So there are approximately 775,000 children under 10 with an iphone in the UK today.

Jon Storm said: Comments,Jon Storm,This is total nonsense, no way 1 in 10 children own an IPhone, and in fact that's not even what the press release says. And the poll is also badly designed. It needs two extra options : 1) I would never buy a child that young an IPhone and 2) Read the press release PCA, that's not what it says.
Lazy and incompetent journalism.

pl64 said: Comments,pl64,I agree with the other comments, the stats make no sense whatsoever and I would very much doubt if 1 in 10 kids has an iPhone. I doubt that 1 in 10 adults has that specific handset!

hoggleboggle said: Comments,hoggleboggle,typical Apple info-article, with research obviously sponsored by the big fruit. If one in 10 under 10 have a mobile and 1 in ten have an iphone, that implies that iphones are the only ones they have, which is obviously false. Check the stats before you publish this nonsense.

Matt said: Comments,Matt,Press release masquerading as news. They don't say who actually conducted the survey, or their methodology, or the demographics of the people they asked. Shoddy journalism.

Carrie-Ann-skinner said: Comments,Carrie-Ann-skinner,Hi anonman93. The research says one in ten kids owns an iphone. Furthermore, one in ten parents think its ok for a child as young as four to own a mobile phone. Two different statistics.

anonman93 said: Comments,anonman93,The headline says 1 in 10 have an iphone, whilst the article says 1 in 10 have a mobile! which is it?